The present invention pertains to an electrical cord connecting apparatus. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an electrical cord connecting apparatus which securely maintains a connection between the terminating ends of two portions of electrical cord. For example, an engaged plug and socket.
Extension cords are well known devices for supplying power from an electrical supply outlet to any of a myriad of electrically driven apparatuses. For example, in the construction industry, an electric drill is typically supplied with an electric power supply cord having a length of between three to five feet. This length has obvious limitations and is substantially inadequate to provide the required degree of freedom and mobility necessary for a worker to effectively use the drill. Therefore, it is common practice to include an electrical extension cord to electrically link the tool, or drill, to the electrical supply source (i.e. wall outlet). This electrical extension cord provides the added degree of mobility and freedom of movement to allow effective use of the electric drill.
Often times, however, the connection between the terminating end of the drill cord and the terminating end of the extension cord become a source of frustration, inefficiency and a safety hazard for the worker. This is because the nature of the connection between the plug and socket end of the cords is susceptible to easy disengagement, which results in loss of power to the drill or tool. This disengagement requires that the worker stop working and reconnect his tool with the electrical extension cord. Particularly, when a worker is working, for example on a ladder, the weight of the extension cord is enough to separate the connection. This results in much frustration and requires the worker to climb down off the ladder, reconnect the cord, and again be subjected to the same problem when he climbs back up on the ladder.
To alleviate this problem, it is common practice for a worker to form a knot in the two cords (the tool's electric cord and the extension cord) at the connecting site between the plug and socket. The use of this knot is intended to prevent disconnection between the plug and socket. However, this has a substantial drawback in that the knot creates sharp angles in the electrical cords, particularly at the point of fixation of the electrical cord with its terminating plug or socket member. These sharp angles are the source of fraying and deterioration of the electrical cord, eventually destroying the use of the cord and creating a potentially hazardous situation. Also, this tying method is ineffective because often the knot works its way out during the use and movement of the tool.
Furthermore, to store electrical cords it is common practice to coil the cord up in a series of loops having equal circumference so as to form a "donut" shaped coil. Then, it is common to take one of the terminating ends of the electrical cord and pass it around the cross sectional perimeter of the coil in a number of windings so as to prevent the coil from becoming undone. However, this practice is typically ineffective because the winding of electrical cord becomes undone resulting in the coil of electrical cord becoming tangled. Also, if the electrical cord has any substantial length, the cross sectional diameter of the "donut" shaped coil becomes too wide to be easily grasped by a human hand. This makes transportation of the cord difficult and further encourages the separation and entanglement of the electrical cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,034, issued to Jamrosy, attempts to alleviate the drawbacks associated with retaining connected electrical cords. This patent discloses a retention device of a spring type for an electrical cord terminal connector. However, among other drawbacks, this patent discloses a device which is relatively complicated, is not easily retrofitted to existing electrical cords, and is dangerous to use due to its inherent conductive nature.